Carrier cartons



P. A. TOENSMElER 2,850,207

United States Patent CARRIER CARTONS Patrick A. Toensmeier, Hamden, Conn., assignor to The New Haven Board & Carton Company, New Haven, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application May 4, 1956, Serial No. 582,688

1 Claim. (Cl. 220-115) This invention relates to carriers for a plurality of like articles, such as cans of the type used for beer, scouring powders, etc. More particularly, the invention is concerned with a carton or carrier for two rows of cans, which is provided with a novel'handle formed of parts partially severed from the top wall of the carrier and readily separable from the wall and movable into effective position. During the shipment of the loaded carrier and its display stacked with others, the handle parts are left in the positions, which they originally occupied in the carrier blank, and the carrier thus has a flat top, so that it occupies a minimum of space and forms stable stacks with others. 'When the carrier is to be transported by hand, the handle parts can be quickly separated from the top wall and bent to a position, in which the handle is easy to grasp.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be made to the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a plan view of a blank for one form of carrier embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the collapsed glued carrier made from the blank of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a view in perspective of the erected carrier with the handle in operative position.

The blank shown in the drawings is a carton for carrying six cans in two rows of three each and it includes a bottom wall 11 having pairs of tuck flaps 12 attached to its ends along crease lines. The side edges of the bottom are connected along crease lines to respective side walls 13, 14 and these walls have respective end closure flaps 15, 16, which are attached along crease lines to opposite end edges of the walls and are provided at their free ends with tuck flaps 17, 18.

An outer top wall 19 is attached along a crease line to the outer edge of side walls 13 and the top wall is provided with pairs of tuck flaps 20 hinged to its opposite ends. A handle flap 21 is partially severed from top wall 19 by cuts 22, 22, which extend to the free edge of the wall from a crease line 23 lying in the longitudinal axis of the wall and may 'be parallel, as shown. The flap 21 is provided with a finger opening 24.

An inner top wall 25 of half the width of wall 19 is attached along crease lines 26, 27 to the outer edge of side wall 14 and also to a central partition 28 having a glue flap 29 hinged to its free end. An inner handle flap 30 of approximately the same size and shape as flap 21 is 2,850,207 ?atented Sept. 2, 1958 cut from the inner top wall 25 and is defined laterally by cuts, which extend outwardly from the hinge line 27. The cuts also extend across the hinge line 26 and are connected by a cut 32, which lies in the side wall 14.

In the glued collapsed blank, the inner top wall 25 is secured to the inner surface of the outer top wall 19 with the flaps 21, 30 in registry. The central partition 28 extends from the inner edge of the inner top wall and is secured to the bottom wall 11 by the glue flap 29. The handle flaps 21, 30 lie in the plane of the outer and inner top walls, respectively, and, when the carton is squared and 'ready for loading, the flaps retain their positions in the walls, but the end portion 30a of flap 30, which lies in side wall 14, is caused to lie at right angles to that wall by the flexing of the inner top wall relative to wall 14. After the cans have been inserted in the carton and the end walls 15, 16 have been folded across the ends of the carton and their tuck flaps 17, 18 inserted into the interior of the carton to close it, the carton has a flat top and bottom and may be readily stacked with others to form stable stacks. When a loaded carton is to be transported by hand, the projecting end section 30a of the inner handle flap can be engaged by the finger and the handle flaps can be readily bent upwardly along their crease lines 23, 27 to vertical position. The glued handle flaps then provide a strong handle, by which the loaded carton can be easily transported.

I claim:

A carrier for a plurality of like objects, which includes side walls, a bottom wall connecting the lower edges of the side walls, an inner top wall connected to the top edge of one side wall and extending to the median vertical plane 01' the carrier, a central partition attached to the inner edge of the inner top wall and to the bottom wall, an outer top wall connected to the top edge of the second side wall and extending across the inner top wall and having a free edge lying close to the top edge of the first side wall, the outer top wall being secured to the inner top wall, the outer top wall having a free edge lying parallel and close to the junction of the inner top wall to the first side wall an outer handle flap connected to the outer top wall along a fold line in said plane and defined by a pair of cuts leading from the fold line to said free edge of the outer top wall, an inner handle flap connected to the inner top wall along a fold line in said plane and defined by a pair of cuts coinciding with the cuts in the outer top wall and extending downward into the first side wall and by a cut in said first side wall connecting the cuts of the pair adjacent said free edge of the outer top wall, the inner and outer handle flaps being secured together, and means for holding objects in the carrier.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,571,833 Chidsey Oct. 16, 1951 2,644,633 Stopper July 7, 1953 2,656,960 Carruth Oct. 27, 1953 2,693,310 Stopper Nov. 2, 1954 2,832,504 Foster Apr. 29, 1958 

